Is helping solve the problems of society everyone's job, or no one's job. What role would you
hope to play, based on your interests and developing skills, in the solution of one or more
specific problems? 

Society's Problems and my role in helping it

As the problems in society arise, it is the duty of every individual to ease the burden by helping to
solve these problems. Too often, individuals pass off that responsibility with the hope that others will
pick up the slack. The problem is that too many shrug their responsibility leaving an insurmountable
degree of perils. 

It is everyone's obligation to help solve the problems because everyone has a stake in society. Not
enough people see the whole picture when it comes to society's problems. If something hurts the
society, it hurts the individual. For example, the problem of homelessness is not just the problem of
those who are without residence. Their plight effects us all. Homelessness hurts the local
businessman whose customers are frightened away by the homeless man living on the corner. It hurts
those who have to commute to work via public transportation and must deal with the panhandlers. It
hurts those whose homes are burglarized by the homeless man looking for money to feed his family.
There is no isolated problem in society and each problem has a ripple effect that eventually hurts
everyone. Even if only for selfish reasons, every individual should help to solve the problems of
society. A parallel that I can draw to further illustrate my point is the team play of former NBA star
Earvin "Magic" Johnson. When asked why he is such a team player, he responded that he was a
very selfish man. He wanted to win so much that he was willing to do whatever it took to succeed. 

I hope that in my later life I have every opportunity to help those who need it. I try to help out as
much as I can now. Due to my commitments at school, I have little spare time, but I still attempt to
help. During Thanksgiving I help out with my school's Thanksgiving Food Drive. I also volunteer as
a tutor for those who need help with their academics. On smaller scales, I always donate my loose
change to the various charity boxes that are strategically placed at the counters of all the local stores
and I always recycle my recyclables. At college, I look forward to the opportunity to further assist in
improving society. 

Beyond college, I hope to eventually make a real difference in society. I have chosen business
management and/or marketing as my career of choice, but I would eventually like to throw my hat
into the ring of politics. My goal is to become a successful businessman and set myself up
comfortably. If I become well off, which I hope to, I will give back to the society that helped me
reach that point. I will do so by donating both my time and money to various charitable services. I
then hope to run for local office. My desire to be a politician is for only altruistic reasons. I want to
change many things about the way our government is run and the way it handles the problems of
society. If I run for office, it will not be to gain financially or to make a name for myself. I want to
make a difference, and I feel that through the medium of politics I could. 

I feel that the single most important institution in our nation is the educational system. Without a
strong educated population, the United States will never return to its former economic prosperity
and standing among the nations of the world. More important than pumping money into defense and
the military, we should be focusing our time, money and effort on educating the youth. I feel that this
starts by decreasing the class size at the grade school level. Children who are neglected at home
need the assurance and support of their teacher. The teacher cannot possibly do that for thirty-five
students. A young child's mind is a blank slate and can be influenced very easily. It is very important
that the child is instilled with proper values and strong sense of confidence in himself. That is why the
school has to get to the child before the local drug dealers can corrupt him. I also feel that more
money needs to be spent on the educational growth of the child from kindergarten through college.
Teaching is, in my estimation, the most important profession in our nation and the attitude towards
them does not reflect that statement. Better conditions and higher salaries would attract more
dedicated and educated people into the field of education. I hope that one day, I have enough
money that I can donate large sums to various institutions of higher learning so that children who
would not have otherwise had the opportunity to receive an education will be able to. There are
many other changes I would like to see instituted. I am for more radical programs such as the
legalization of gambling, prostitution and drugs. It sounds like I am suggesting a total moral
defabrication of our society, but in reality, past the negative perception, such programs would be
very beneficial. Legalized gambling, under state control, would allow the state to make huge profits.
Besides the capital raised from the casinos, tourism would increase. That would be beneficial for all
surrounding businesses. Legalized prostitution would make an already practiced institution safer,
reducing the spread of HIV. An educated businessman could run the brothel allowing an honest
individual to make the profit. It would also lower the instances of physical abuse between the
prostitute and the patron. The legalization of drugs would put the dealers out of business. Young
children would no longer have the option of selling drugs and would be forced to get an education.
Without drug dealers, there are no turf wars and fewer gun related murders. The drugs could then be
sold in a pharmacy where upon an honest business man could make the profit. This would reduce
the sharing of IV needles and reduce the spread of HIV. By legalizing the drug, the rebel element is
taken away and it is my belief there would be fewer abusers. These are just a few programs that I
would like to push for should I ever be given the chance. 

If individuals do not soon understand the importance of helping out in our society, the problems will
become too great for us to handle. I would like to close with a little story my mother used to tell me
when I was little: "This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure
Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry
about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody
realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when
Nobody did what Anybody could have done."